In this episode of Brain Friends, we share a behind-the-scenes conversation between Angie and Dr. Seles on Anomia. Together we weigh the benefits of recognizing the different types of Anomia and the challenges with diagnosis.

Anomia is a fluent aphasia characterized by word-finding difficulty or the inability to name objects.

Should we classify Anomia differently? What can Speech-Language Pathologists and researchers do to better help survivors with Anomia?

In this episode of Brain Friends, we discuss 5 ways everyone can contribute to health equity for Black people with aphasia. We give resources for caregivers to get compensated and encourage speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to support health literacy in clients.

1. Implicit Bias Training- to help practitioners recognize stereotypical beliefs that contribute to health inequities.

2. Workforce Diversity- may help clients with communication and participation in research by having practitioners who look like them.

3. Representation in Research- helps ensure generalization of findings and that all voices are included. http://www.aphasiaresource.org/ Also, how are researchers sharing clinical findings? How many researchers have collected data from participants, published the findings, and gone back to the participants to share their study results?

4. Health Literacy- helps individuals understand medical information to make an informed decision. It is important to encourage care partners and provide disability resources that compensate the caregiver https://www.usa.gov/disability-caregiver

5. Patient Reported Outcomes- helps give people with aphasia a voice in therapy by sharing goals that are important to the individual. Patient-reported outcomes can be challenging to read and should be diversified with large print, pictures, audio versions, or available on assistive devices.

In this episode of Brain Friends, we invite two stakeholders to celebrate Aphasia Awareness Month, Maura Silverman, the executive director of the National Aphasia Association (NAA), and Gee Jackson, a lawyer and stroke survivor with aphasia.

Together we answer two important questions:
1. What do you know about aphasia now that you wish you would have known on day 1?
2. How can we bring awareness to aphasia?

Listen, laugh, and learn how you can spread awareness about aphasia.

Links:
National Aphasia Association- https://aphasia.org/
Aphasia Resource Collaboration Hub (ARCH)- https://aphasiaresource.org/